Brie Larson’s gonna have to bone up on her tennis skills.
She’s in talks to replace Emma Stone as Billie Jean King in Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ BATTLE OF THE SEXES, which will depict the iconic 1973 tennis match between King and Bobby Riggs. Riggs was an aging Wimbledon champ who claimed, repeatedly, that no woman could be his equal in tennis, a challenge King eventually took on and shoved down his throat.
Larson doesn’t really look much like King, who was 29 at the time of the “Battle of the Sexes” match (Larson’s only 25), but then again, Carell looks nothing like Riggs (or like John du Pont, for that matter). What matters is the physicality and the attitude. I’ll admit, it’s easier to see Stone baring her teeth as the brazen, aggressively feminist tennis player than Larson, but there’s no question that the latter has both range and popularity in spades. This film is (uncoincidentally) coming at a time where sexism (in Hollywood, particularly) is a hot-button issue, and Larson has an inherent strength and likability that will make her an easy figure to root for against Carell’s braggadocious Riggs.
This is a great story that, when I first learned about it, I immediately thought would make a great feature (particularly after hearing the still-sharp King’s recollection of the event), and one that could be very illuminating and inspiring to the generations of young female athletes who aren’t privy to the history of women in sports. Larson is hotter than ever right now, and has got a wide range of stuff coming out, but this could show off her talents (both in terms of physical preparation and emotional verisimilitude) as well as anything she’s been in thus far.
What do you guys think of Brie Larson as Billie Jean King?
